a gilbert target saga

last night we visited the place we frequent the very most:

target, of course!

(i am a target addict, through and through)

so I thought I'd give you a little glimpse into what our target trips almost always consist of:

first, the car ride.

I chatter the whole way there, and, if I'm driving, almost get us into a few accidents; for which taylor will complain that if I don't kill him in a car accident, I'll kill him with the weak heart he has from all of the "car-accident-scares." 

"so either way, you're killing me."

great, thanks, babe.

BUT last night, taylor drove, AND we almost got into an accident. HA

it was exhilarating, because after we survived, I got to say, "hey, look, it wasn't even me driving!"

(...to sum up, I'm a bad driver. and taylor is too, sometimes ;)

(alsooo, dear dad: i'm exaggerating a little on all of the car accidents. except for the one last night)

then, when we get to target, I will grab a cart, and taylor will say, "you need a cart? I thought we were just coming for a few things?"

to which I always respond with, "oh dearest taylor, sweet sweet taylor. you ALWAYS get a cart at target."

then we start THE LIST.

when i'm on "list-mode," I practically drag taylor around as I run through the store.

It's kind of funny actually--it's the one time that the person twice my size has to run to keep up with ME.

...this was actually one of the first "fights" we got in.

we were in a halloween costume store (two weeks after being married), and apparently, I was doing my "drag-taylor-around-and-run-from-aisle-to-aisle" thing.

he grabbed me by the shoulders, stopped me in the middle of the store, and said, "kells, I can never go shopping with you if you keep this up! let me enjoy the store!"

and then I realized that I only have my mother to blame--because we had to RUN our little legs off to keep up with her in grocery stores.

 I swear she did it to induce nap-time or something.

ANYways, I apparently, STILL do it--sooo, still working on that one. ;)

then, we start to add a bunch of stuff to the cart that we don't really need.

and when I realize that we don't reeealllyy need those lime-zesta-flavored wheat thins, I take them out of the cart and stick them on the nearest shelf.

taylor will give me the, "are you really going to be one of those people?" look.

(you know, the people who don't put things back in the right place)

and I respond with a "if it bugs you so much, you take it back" look.

and then with an exasperated sigh, and zero words spoken, he will take the item back to its correct location.

(just a disclaimer: when we were first dating, taylor told me that this is one of his biggest pet peeves...so I purposefully do it just to watch him squirm.  it's a silent battle we have. him waiting to see if I'll really leave it, and me waiting to see how long it takes for him to give in. HAHAH

next, it's time for the "bet"

I looked for an item last time I was in the store, and couldn't find it anyyyywhere.

(and I KNOW my target)

so then taylor will say, "they've got to have it. you must not have looked hard enough, kells."

and I say, "be my guest."

and silently follow him around while he looks for said item.

last night, the item was bubble bath.

(we looove our bubble baths. HA)

and lo and behold, there was no bubble bath.

(at least NONE that I could find)

so I won. (of course ;)

at this point, it's time to head over to the dollar section.

but not before taylor says, "kells, I come to the store with you to be with you, so put your instagram away."

#guilty.

to which I say, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, iloveyousomuch. I'm addicted and need addiction recovery, will you please admit me to the nearest institution?"

and taylor will respond with, "If I'm admitting you at an institution, I'll admit you for lots of other stuff too. like #1. for being crazy."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, iloveyousomuch."

taylor: "stop."

me: "did you forget about the instagram thing yet?"

taylor: "nope."

me: "dang."

and at the dollar section, I try to convince taylor that I need everything there.

until he asks me, "what would you do with that?"

me: "I don't know, but it's SOOO cute."

and THEN we find the little kid sock section, and taylor goes to town.

this is easily his favorite past-time--buying me little kid socks. HA

but they really are my favorite things in the world. 

and I say, "okay, pick TWO."

and he says, "okay, got it."

and then somehow, when we are checking out, there are six on the conveyor belt.

and he looks at me and smiles and says, "but look! there was ninja turtles, and elsa, and jake, and thomas the train! how could I only pick two? just thing how in-style you're going to be when you're playing with your nieces and nephews!"

and then after checking out, taylor leaves me in the dust as he exercises the "little boy" in him and rides the cart all the way back to the car.

and I try to take blurry pictures, but mostly laugh, and try not to get hit by cars in the parking lot

please feel free to join us anytime you'd like.

we enjoy each other a little too much.

just a few random thoughts.

+ last weekend, christie, regan, and I relived our high school days and cried over the notebook. 

that movie never gets old.

such a fun night!

+I've always wondered, "do you think there is someone out in the world who is exactly like you? like thinks the same things, says the same things, loves the same things?"

and ladies and gents, I have the answer: YES THERE IS.

and I found her.

her name is christie.

it is actually kinda spooky.

taylor can't even be in the same room with us, because I'm pretty sure he's confused half of the time which one of us is actually his wife.

and I mentioned this before--but this is a real-life instagram friend.

so search insta now for your twin!!

+also, I mentioned in my last post about changing my hair.

and ta-da, it is changed!

I pretty much trusted whatever my hairstylist said--it was the only time I've ever been somewhat brave.

it ended up blonder than I was expecting, but my stylist was raving over it, so I figured it must look somewhat good! ha!

he also added layers (which I love!).

I really need to take a good picture--but for now, this bad lighting one will have to do:

^okay, worst quality picture, but I'll get one soon.

also a plug in for shep's studio in provo--they are THE BEST.

ask for twixt.

+dear bachelor fans: is this anyone else's favorite season?

taylor and I can't get enough of it this season.

shhh don't tell taylor I ratted out his love for the show. HA

and kaitlyn for the next bachelorette, amiright?

+BYU emailed me and asked me to teach an independent study class!

which seems pretty cool--i'm excited to find out more about it!

+read this article: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/10/to-young-women?lang=eng

taylor and I listened to it last night, and it was so inspiring!

+life is great--and happy tuesday!

valentines + highschool-isms

we had SUCH a wonderful valentine's day.

our valentine's tradition is to go out for a yummy breakfast and then avoid the crowds and make dinner together at home.

it's my favorite!

because the day is REALLY just about me and him as we snuggle up together at night (without feeling rushed at dinner, in big crowds, or trying to talk loud enough to hear each other in a crowded restaurant HA. seriously, adopt this tradition!)

we (taylor) made pizza and then cuddled up to a movie.

and we spent the whole day calling each other "valentine" and lots of extra, extra "I love you's"

I know there's a lot of hate surrounding valentine's day, but I think it is SO fun to just have a day solely dedicated to celebrating love!

and OH don't worry--the only picture that I have from valentine's day is this one taylor took of me at breakfast.

I guess we were just too busy with other things to take pictures ;)

HA, sorry dad. 

and now some funny stories:

the other day, we went with taylor's parents to some model homes.

they are going to build just about the most beautiful house and I am SO happy for them!

and while we were going down the stairs, I COMPLETELY biffed it, guys.

first I slipped feet first down the stairs, and then right when I thought I caught myself, I started falling head first. It was so embarrassing. and also kinda hurt.

and it brought back painful memories of when I fell down like 15 stairs at BYU in front of everyone. and yeah, life is funny.

the other night, taylor and i were folding laundry when he "whipped" a towel to straighten it out so he could fold it. you know what I mean?

but I walked past him right as he did it and he almost hit me with the towel!

I said, "babe! I almost got whipped!"

and he said, "it's about time! I've been whipped for a long time." with his cute little wink and half-smile combo.

I could NOT stop laughing. THAT WIT!

a few nights ago we got to hang out with our cute friends, christie and brooks.

guys, this is a real life instagram best friend.

we met through instagram awhile ago, and we swear we are long-lost-friends.

taylor is convinced we are twins because of how similar we are. HA 

plus, I'm in love with her baby.

so basically, I'm a huge advocate of meeting strange people via the internet.

HA, unless you're 12 ;)

and two high-school-isms for your thursday enjoyment!

the other day, a student raised his hand and said, "mrs. gilbert, I don't know if we banged hard enough."

uuuh what?

then he goes on (without even realizing what he said), "we didn't bang out this idea hard enough. We should talk about it more."

MUCH better, child. much better wording.

but the whole time he was talking, I was trying so hard not to lose it.

oh dear high schoolers.

I was grading ASL tests yesterday, and saw this:

"go feed the turtle and read it a book under the couch."

definitely not what I signed, but it killed me that this student thought I actually said that! hahahah!

best answer ever.

I couldn't even mark it wrong! ha

AND GUYS.

my dang cough is still not gone!

I haven't been able to run in 3 weeks and I am dyyyying!

I tried running last week and only made it about .2 miles before I coughed up my right lung.

and then I was up ALL night coughing from the extra stress on my lungs.

and I kept taylor up all night.

so I've decided to give it a rest until the cough is somewhat gone. BUT GEESH. be gone already!

I'm sooo antsy! and getting fat. HAHA

No worries, I'll just drown my sorrows in chocolate chip cookies.

ALSO. I am literally going to a hair stylist today and telling them, "what do you think will look good on me? cut + color?" and then trusting whatever they say. HA

sooo, yeah. we will see what happens.

but I'm going to a big-gig stylist, so that I actually trust them.

follow me on insta to see the result!

Happy Thursday!

a gal-entines, indeed!

on friday night, I hosted a galentines party with some of my dearest friends!

we decorated sugar cookies for ourselves and for our sweethearts.

but a lot more for ourselves...HA

I feel like everyone was like, "okay, THIS one will be to take home." 

and then two seconds later, it had disappeared from the plate!

big thanks to mom gilbert for giving me her best sugar cookie recipe!

UM p.s. finding valentine-colored sprinkles AND heart-shaped cookie cutters the week of valentine's day is seriously impossible. 

so stock up now.

like for real.

then we made little "minion" cards to take home to our sweethearts.

and of course, there was SO much laughter, a few must-see youtube videos shared, baby-loving, and WAY too many #galentinesconfessions. HA

but oh my, this girls night was so good for my soul.

it's been awhile since I've just spent time with all girls, and it was exactly what I needed!

I wish I had been better about snapping more pictures, but I was just loving on every moment that was happening during that night.

 but I think this picture takes the cake:

and this is the one group picture that you can semi-see everyone

(even though three girls had already left!)

we've already planned our next holiday-excuse-get-together.

easter.

we will call it "chicks-night." get it? HA

we kill ourselves with our wit.

this was truly such a highlight this weekend!

(don't tell taylor....HA just kidding. ;) valentine's post to come!)

and I hope all of you are lucky enough to have a three day weekend, like me!

if you don't, I'll think of you while I'm shopping and reading all day ;)

xoxo

happy valentines (gal-entines!) day!

I absolutely loooove valentine's day!

hence--the house decorations that came 5 weeks early! ha!
but a day to celebrate LOVE? ahhh, I love love.

last night I got busy on a little impromptu idea I had for taylor.

I decided to make a little stop-motion film for him.
the best part was having lots of little "kelli's and taylor's" around the house:

which, I'm pretty sure we will have fun with these little "us" pictures popping up in random situations for the rest of our lives. HA

anyways, here is my little rough-draft gift to taylor.
it's not perfect, but I only had a half hour last night to make this possible!

tonight, is my GAL-entines party!

and I am sooo excited for our girls night!

pictures to come!

I hope you all have a lovely valentine's day with your sweethearts (or wanna-be sweethearts! ;)).

I LOVE VALENTINE'S!

happy weekend, lovelies!

it's definitely a monday

I've been fighting a sore throat/cough for the last couple of days.

on saturday, I refused to be in bed all day, so we played all day with mom and dad gilbert.

but I think I pushed myself a little too hard; I woke up sunday sooo dizzy--I couldn't even walk without wanting to throw up!

and slowly, my voice has faded to zero.

today, I woke up with hardly any voice--which obviously causes a small problem when you teach all day.

so today quickly turned into a "30 Days" day

(teachers--this is the best thing you could buy! a lot of the episodes can be directly related no matter what subject you teach. PLUS there is always a great reflection/discussion topic afterwards. my favorite things for substitute days, or days like today HA

I actually learned about this from MY government teacher in high school!)

aaand I don't know whether to be offended when the students come in, realize I don't have a voice, and then make the connection--"wait, does that mean no notes today!? WAHOOO!"

and then they excitedly tell one another, "mrs. gilbert is sick! mrs. gilbert doesn't have a voice!"

HAHAH

I'm like, "gee, thanks, guys!"

but, at the same time, what high school student WOULDN'T prefer an easy day? ha

on top of all of that, I woke up to a sudden and horrible bloody nose (bye-bye pillow case)

and have already had two more since waking up!

so yeah, it's been a great monday. 

but today was made a little bit better when this cute guy brought me lunch:

and also. it's bachelor monday.

AND LOOK AT THIS.

becca tilley commented back to me on instagram. HA

I freaked out like a teenage girl at a one-direction concert. 

is she everyone else's favorite on the show too? 

i love her. and now even more so! haha

the best future dad

our week of parenthood came to a close sunday afternoon!

and while we were pretty excited to take a nap and just sit and watch netflix, we already miss our pseudo-kids! good thing they live across the street from us ;)

as we watched these kids all week, I was continuously in awe at how good taylor is at being a dad--even if it was really only a "pseudo-dad" role.

throughout the week, I noticed a few things of why my taylorray will be the BEST dad our future gilbert littles could ever ask for!

+ he plays the silliest games with the kids.

+I was laughing so hard watching him play this game.

little luke had a helicopter, and had to pick up taylor's little "lego guy" that was touring the world.

the funniest part was that every time luke picked up the "lego-taylor" he would try to mayday the plane, and taylor kept saying, "dude, why do you keep mayday-ing me? I want to live!" and luke just thought it was the funniest thing ever.

+he played legos AT LEAST every day with them. pretty sure it was his idea to get them out in the first place. he is a little lego lover.

+he sat and watched the 11 year old play video games for hours and would give him cheat-codes and tell him what to do when he got stuck.

I got bored watching after like 2 mins. HA

+he checked in on the sleeping kids every night.

^on this night, he checked in a little too early. I was still cuddling with my favorite little guy and singing songs that he requested. so tay took a picture. haha

+he showed off his juggling tricks and made the kids laugh their little heads off.

especially when he peeled the orange with his mouth while juggling, and then threw the peeled oranges in his mouth and ate them whole (all while juggling). I should have recorded it...it's quite the feat.

+he literally spent hours with the boys MAKING UP a board game called "mission to mars" and then taught us all how to play. 

I mostly just watched and made fun of him for being so nerdy.

+he took the boys on little "boy trips" throughout the week, in which they always came back with some sort of treat...

+he gave advice to "our 16-year-old daughter" about awkward boy situations--PLUS made up the funniest song with her on the guitar about high-school-boys.

I would post it on here, but it has particular boys named, so that's probably not the best idea. HA

+he initiated a PVC-dart game--complete with barriers.

...also, one of the girls invited her friend, who invited his cousin, and the cousin so happened to be one of my students.

the best part was when we were on different teams, he said, "uh, am I allowed to shoot you, mrs. gilbert?" HAHA

+he took pictures of me and the kids (something I really hope he does when we have our own too...so that it's not just me behind the camera always HA)

+he worked from home when one of the kids got sick, and took care of her all day.

+at the end of each day, he cuddled next to me, and told me ALL of the reasons why he loved me that day--and why he was so happy our kids would get me as a mom.

cue melted heart.

can't wait to make this guy a dad one day!

i love you, taylorray!